Principal Investigator

Man Kumari Giri

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Identifying Optimal Regions within New Jersey's Pine Barrens Forest for Urban Development Based on Wildfire Risk and the Wildland-Urban Interface Theory

As New Jersey's population increases, more of this population is relocating to the wildland-urban interface (WUI) of the south-central Pinelands region. Due to this increase in human activity coupled with local environmental conditions, local authorities are concerned about an increased possibility of wildfires that could...

Principal Investigator

Kara Cassano

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Identifying Optimal Site Locations for Wind Energy Farms Considering Ecological and Social Impacts

With the increasing cost and declining availability of fossil fuels, renewable energy, specifically wind power, has become one of the fastest growing sources of energy in New Mexico. To assist with the goals set by the state's Renewables Standard Portfolio established in 2004, the NASA...

Principal Investigator

Alejandro Soria

 

Aerosols, fine particulate matter expelled into the atmosphere, have become a major concern due to associated negative health impacts. Aerosols are commonly created by anthropogenic activities such as biomass and fossil fuel burnings, pyrotechnics, vehicle congestion, and mining operations...

Principal Investigator

Patrick Saylor

 

A rapidly warming Arctic has compromised the structural integrity of critical infrastructure through accelerated permafrost thaw and thermokarst development underlying these areas. Infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and airports across the state of Alaska are particularly at risk, as permafrost...

Principal Investigator

Man Kumari Giri

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Identifying Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Early-Season Invasive Grasses in Yellowstone National Park by Incorporating NASA Earth Observations.

Monitoring early-season invasive (ESI) annual grass species is of great significance to Yellowstone National Park as their spread threatens wildlife populations and biodiversity. Field enumeration of large grasslands with limited personnel is costly and time consuming. In response, this study tested use of NASA Earth...

Principal Investigator

W. Pierce Holloway

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Average daytime land surface temperature for Fairfax County and surrounding areas calculated for the months June – August in the years 2013 – 2020 from the Landsat 8 Provisional surface Temperature product in the USGS Analysis Ready Data product bundle. Lighter yellow tones represent cooler temperatures while saturated reds indicate hotter temperatures, ranging from 64 °F in less built areas to 123 °F in the most urbanized areas where partners should concentrate mitigation strategies.  Keywords: Urban Heat, Landsat 8, Land Surface Temperature

Extreme high temperatures lead to increased instances of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and even death, as well as increased energy consumption and infrastructure costs. People in urbanized areas experience higher temperatures than rural areas due to diminished vegetation and increased...

Principal Investigator

Jared Tomlin

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Implementing a Global Tool for Mercy Corps Based on Spatially Continuous Precipitation Analysis for Resiliency Monitoring and Measuring at the Community-Scale

Global water resources are important for societies, economies, and the environment. In Niger, limited water resources restrict the expansion of communities and agriculture. Mercy Corps currently works in over 40 countries around the world to address a variety of stresses which include water resources and...

Principal Investigator

Vanesa Martín

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This image shows NDVI (green) derived from June to July 2018 Landsat 8 OLI data overlaid by a 2015 Sentinel-2 MSI composite image (bands 8, 11, 4) clipped to Leech Lake in Minnesota (purple). Emergent northern wild rice is visible in yellow near the lake edges. Partners at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources can use spectral indices like these to distinguish wild rice from surrounding wetlands and vegetation.

Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are genetically related to cultivated crops and function as repositories for genetic diversity. These plants have the potential to improve the yield, nutritional value, and resilience of crops, thereby buffering against widespread crop failure and supporting...

Principal Investigator

Adriana Le Compte

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Multispectral Landsat 8 ESRI on-the-fly imagery superimposing the 2009-2017 difference in unvegetated to vegetated ratio calculated using classified NAIP imagery. Salt marsh along the Charleston, South Carolina coast relies on sediment import from the environment to remain stable. Areas in yellow are indicative of greater salt marsh change from vegetated to unvegetated. Change from vegetated to unvegetated indicate these areas may be vulnerable to open water conversion resulting in the loss of the salt marsh.   Keywords: UVVR, Jacob Stid, Adriana LeCompte, Derek Nguyen, Elspeth Gates​

Among the most productive ecosystems on earth, salt marshes provide crucial ecosystem services including water filtration, shoreline protection, storm surge buffering, and flood mitigation. Marshes are largely dependent on their sediment budget which can significantly vary across a region. Upstream...

Principal Investigator

Forrest Corcoran

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Downscaled satellite data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions evaluate Earth’s gravitational anomalies, and quantify the amount of subsurface groundwater. In the Central Valley of California, from February 2003 to January 2020, a color gradient from red to blue shows groundwater loss and gain respectively. This analysis shows that the southern portion of the valley is losing more groundwater than the northern portion over time.   Keywords: Central Valley, California, GRACE, Forrest Corcoran, Marissa Dudek, James Kitchens, Patrick Saylor

California’s Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world, producing approximately $20 billion in crops annually. The recent California droughts of 2007-2010 and 2011-2017 resulted in increased groundwater pumping in the Central Valley to adequately...